Distribution

Synonyms

Bionomics

Medical Importance

"This genus contains all known medically-important species in the Old World, including incriminated vectors of mammalian Leishmania species [infantum, donovani, aethiopica, major, tropica] and of sandfly-fever serogroup arboviruses, which do not seem to have vertebrate hosts other than mammals (Killick-Kendrick), 1990; Lewis, 1982; Tesh, 1988; Verani et al., 1988). Sandfly bites can be extremely irritating and lead to urticaria as well as ( secondary) bacteriai lnfections (Adler & Theodor, 1957; Perfil'ev, 1966)." [Seccombe et al. 1993: 5; and Lane & Crosskey, 1993: 108]